Telecom Commission, the apex decision making body at the Telecom Department, on Friday approved extension of time period for the payment of spectrum bought in auctions by telcos to 16 years from the current 10 years.

The commission also approved recommendation of the interministerial group (IMG) — tasked with finding a remedy to the financial difficulties of the telecom sector — to lower interest rate charged over penalties imposed on service providers with slight modification, a government source said.

“Telecom Commission has approved IMG recommendation to extend spectrum payment period to 16 years from 10 years at present. It has also approved lowering of interest rate on penalties imposed on telecom operator. It will be now charged on the basis of marginal cost of funds based lending rates (MCLR) plus 400 basis points, instead of prime lending rate,” the source said.

The Telecom Commission also cleared path for formulating a draft of new National Telecom Policy (NTP) by according its approval.

“We expect the draft of the policy to be sent to the Cabinet by January and its approval by March,” the source said.

Ducts for telecom cable

The interministerial panel also cleared TRAI’s recommendation to mandate that every building plan should have duct for telecom cable and the completion certificate to the building should be given only if it has incorporated duct in the building.

“This move will boost telecom connectivity inside the building. Now, the Telecom Ministry will write to the Ministry of Urban Development to implement this decision. Some part of the recommendations, such as sharing of the duct in buildings should be mandatory will be sent back to TRAI,” the source said.

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